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Glue?

I am removing carpeting in my house that is 120 years of age. My flooring has wooden floor panels. But as I reached the bottom of the carpeting I found black glue…as if it is the backing of the carpeting. I have tried everything to remove this to get to the wooden flooring…is there an easier way other than sitting there with a pocket knife and scraping it over and over again?

You may need to experiment,but I'd start with mineral spirits.Dampen a cloth and see if any of the black transfers and continue if it does.You could also place foil or wax paper over the glue,apply a warm iron to see if it will soften-up.

I had the same problem when I bought my house.The livingroom rug foam underpad had transformed over the years to a st1cky asphalt like substance.I used an ice chopper on a long handle as a kind of scraper then went to work with thinner.There's probably some still there!

Another option worth considering - the glue may be water soluable. Lay newspaper over a 3' x 3' area to start and then pour a liberal amount (enough to soak the paper) of hot water over the paper. Let sit for about 15 minutes. Pull up the paper and use a plastic scraper on the glue residue.

We found this worked great for glue that was holding down an 80 year old linoleum floor.